Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Prosecutors open probe into Sheldon Silver over law firm payments

The FBI and prosecutors from Manhattan US Attorney Preet
Bharara’s office are probing Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver in
connection with money he received from a small law firm that specializes
in arranging real-estate tax reductions.
The firm, Goldberg & Iryami P.C., made the payments over about a
decade — but Silver failed to list the income on his
financial-disclosure forms, a source told The Post.
The prosecutors from Bharara’s office want to find out exactly what
Silver did to earn the money, the source added. The payments from the
law firm were “not substantial,’’ the source said.
The investigation is “moving along slowly,’’ the source added.
The probe grew out of the investigation conducted by the Moreland
Commission panel looking into corruption in Albany that was abruptly
shut down by Gov. Cuomo, according to The New York Times.
Among the issues it had been looking into is how state lawmakers earn money from their non-government jobs.
Silver is a personal-injury lawyer associated with the firm of Weitz and Luxenberg.
Goldberg & Iryami specializes in an arcane form of law known as “tax certiorari,’’ according to the Times.
That involves challenging real- estate tax assessments and seeking
reductions for developers who own residential or commercial property.
It appears to have only two lawyers, according to the Times.
Since 2001, the newspaper said, the firm and its principals have made six donations to Silver, totaling $7,600.
The most recent was in February, when it gave him $1,800.
The Times added that the small law firm has sought tax reductions for
many properties on the Lower East Side, which is the area Silver
represents.
Among the buildings the firm has represented is Silver’s own co-op,
as well as a commercial building nearby that houses his campaign
committee, according to the Times.
The speaker has long been a controversial figure.
Silver has faced criticism over how he handled allegations of sexual misconduct of one of his top aides in 2003.
He became ensnared in the Vito Lopez sex-harassment case when it
became public that he hired two firms to defend the disgraced former
assemblyman, spending nearly $700,000 in public funds.
Silver was nearly ousted as Assembly speaker by his fellow Democrats
in 2000 when they unexpectedly challenged his leadership position.
Silver, through a spokesman, declined to comment on the new probe.Additional reporting by Carl Campanile